286 



ANSERES. 



ANATID^. 



ANATIBM. 



Bernicla leucopsis (Bechstein*). 



THE BERNACLE GOOSE. 



Anser leucopsis. 



The Bernacle Goose is a winter visitor to the British 

 Islands, appearing in considerable flocks, particularly when 

 the weather is severe, and is considered to be more abundant 

 on the western coasts than on those of the east. It has been 

 so frequently confounded with its far commoner relative the 

 Brent Goose, that it is somewhat difficult to sketch its dis- 

 tribution ; but from the statements of Messrs. Stevenson, 

 J. H. Gurney, jun., J. Cordeaux, and W. Eagle Clarke, it 

 appears to be a distinctly rare visitor — and only when the 

 winters are very severe on the Continent — to the coasts of 

 Norfolk, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire. In Northumberland 

 examples were obtained in 1855 and in November 1866, near 

 Holy Island ; but Mr. Abel Chapman, who has had subse- 



* Anser leucopsis, Bechstein, Orn. Taschenb. ii. p. 424 (1803). 



